"I'm an American doctor who went to Gaza. What I saw wasn't war. It was annihilation."

[Martin Eden]

14. Is Netanyahu breeding more terrorists than he's killing?

That question can't be answered with any certainty, but I think it's relevant if the long term objective is to reduce the threat of terrorism.

I think we can be fairly certain that a large percent of Palestinian survivors in Gaza have suffered both physical and emotional trauma, with loved ones killed by Israeli bombardments. I think it likely that hatred and thirst for revenge will swell the numbers of eager recruits for Hamas or whatever takes its place.

In other words, I think Netanyahu's victory will be pyrrhic at best. I also suspect his motives are not confined to quelling terrorism. It's no secret Netanyahu and his hardline coalition oppose any two state solution. Their long term objective is a greater Israel encompassing all the promised land.

Given the projected demographics of a single state with a healthy Palestinian population, in a few generations Jews could be a minority in the Jewish State.

That development is totally unacceptable to Netanyahu and his ilk, which means the Palestinian problem needs to be solved. One option would be an apartheid state. The other is ethnic cleansing and/or forced dispora.

Looks like we're seeing the latter option in action.

If you point out the horrible atrocity of Oct 7 and argue that Hamas would do the same or worse to the Jewish population if it could, I'd say you're absolutely right.

There is no end in sight to this conflict, and I can't offer a viable solution.

But let's not pretend Netanyahu's military campaign is entirely justified as a purely defensive measure to quell Palestinian terrorism. The long term objective of a Greater Israel is at work here.

One can argue the necessity of that for the survival of the Jewish State, but one must also acknowledge that involves disposessing the Palestinians of their former homeland.